Lebanon: Day Three - Life Abundant
by Sheryl Wood, for the team
When as a child I laughed and wept
Time Crept
When as a youth I waxed more bold
Time Strolled
When I became a grown man
Time Ran
When older still I grew
Time Flew
Soon I shall find, in passing on,
Time gone.
Oh Christ wilt Though have saved me then?
Amen
by Henry Twells
Upon hitting the morning air with Evangeline and Marilyn at 6:30, we set out on our morning constitutional upon the campus of the American University of Beirut. It was a typical walk except for the fact we were walking down the serpentine hill where the Mediterranean Sea lapped along the shores. There was an occasional gaggle of cats tussling along our path, but other than that the campus was still. The students were out for their most needed breaks. The quiet walk was broken as Marilyn read the plaque on the walls of the 1866 building. It read,” I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”
I knew what lay ahead in my day. I was going to a church that housed a school for the children of refugees from Syria. After leaving there I was to go to the ruins of Tyre. I begin to think about all of us throughout the ages starting off as babies; babies if for only one moment in the arms of a mother that had just been part of a miracle. How does it happen? We all go off on this celestial ball throughout the ages just cell by growing cell ending up in a situation be it spectacular or devastating over which we had very little control.
Things such as gene pools and nature verses nature come to my mind. How does it all make sense? Who has the answers? Do policies handed down by governments have the solutions? At breakfast I read in the Lebanon paper the headline, “Russia sends Syrian proposal to United States.” It went on to say, ”preliminary assessment indicated 890,000 refugees could return to Syria from Lebanon in the near future.”
After finishing my third cup of coffee I set out on a journey to put a face on these words. We set out to the National Evangelical Church of Tyre to meet with Assis (Pastor) Ameer and his wife Esther along with Syrian and Lebanese women who had studied carefully the fine arts of sewing and crocheting. One of the first places we passed as we ventured out was an area which was known for drug use and prostitution. It was an area that was unlike the other places I had seen thus far. Beirut, a thriving beautiful city, is only human like the rest of the world with its problem areas.
Moving on the vista quickly changed as we came upon the seaport of Sidon. Sidon called Saida today (Arabic for fishing) was bustling with commerce in fish trading. Fishermen did not have time to rest on their nets as they hawked fish to passersby. A zealous pelican stood by patiently for a just reward. Sidon was a place you will find in the Bible. If you are like me you had to look it up on Google to see exactly why it was in the Bible. May I suggest that you do that now please. Time is of the essence and my blog is due very shortly.
We went about another twenty miles south, in the middle of the coastal plain and arrived at Tyre (called Sour in Arabic today). The city was built on a rock and the name actually means “rock.”
We arrived at the church and Esther and Pastor Ameer awaited us with hugs and gladness. This incidentally is and was our greeting from everyone wherever we go. I must admit that I am certain that Marilyn and Julie have laid the groundwork for many years for this to be the case. The church was located across the street from the Mediterranean Sea. The view was out of a travel magazine. The four of us walked into the empty room awaiting the guests of honor. They entered and did not disappoint in their wide smiles, flowing dresses, scarves and enthusiasm.
They began to tell their stories of success through Youmna, an amazing young woman who was their interpreter, with eyes of admiration and excitement for each woman as she revealed their thoughts.
Before each woman started to say her part a lively woman with a large blue scarf beamed and quickly pulled out of her bag her treasure. It was an adorable little, what looked to be, either a party dress or ballerina tutu. The top was crocheted and the body was all girl pink ruffles that seemed to never end. Everyone beamed with delight over the display as the women carried on with their introductions.
Haifa, who had been in the school for five years, got to know the pastor and his wife through studying sewing at the school. She said in a warm gentle voice, “Because of this church I feel like I belong somewhere.” The other women told similar stories. One woman from Syria in particular chimed in with gratitude that she had no money for materials and the pastor and his wife had brought them for her. Another woman in the middle of introductions began quite a persuasive sales pitch as she, like Mary Poppins, kept pulling item after item out of her bag. She had found a captive crowd and we all begin to look at her creations and start buying. She was filled with joy.
The church not only housed a sewing and crocheting school, it also housed one of the six schools for Syrian refugee children, beginning in April 2016. It was off to a triumphant start and did not even take off any time during its first year! The teachers at the church are the teachers for the four classes of children ages 5-12. Youmna told of many parents who said that their children were calmer and not nearly as anxious since starting the school. She went on to say the children were actually sad on the days that school was out. The school also provides a daily meal and clothes for them. Youmna laughingly said that the pastor and his wife who live at the church have given up everything except the room in which they sleep for the school.
They are looking forward to opening a shop where the women may sell their creations as well as a project to add on six rooms to the roof for additional classrooms. All things are possible through Christ who strengthens me.
Our final stop was the sewing room where once again we purchased their wares and delighted in their excellence. And then it was time to move on.
We loaded up and headed to Tyre. The town of Tyre was part of the Roman world. Before that time, Alexander the Great conquered the City. Tyre played a role in developing the alphabet, developing a purple pigment used to dye the clothes of royals and nobles (remember Lydia?) and also in aiding in the construction of Jerusalem’s temple of Solomon, when King Hiram sent materials and architect to Israel. ( See 1 Kings Chapter 5, please.)
In the ruins of Tyre we found the necropolis of El Bass on either side of a wide Roman road dominated by a triumphal arch of the second century. There were also amazing aqueducts high overhead along with ancient baths.
In the midst of the necropolis were the ruins of an old Byzantine church. I would be remiss if I did not confess that I was brought to tears as we prayed to the same God and stood beside the relics of a baptismal font like the one in our church today. There was a gentle breeze as the noonday sun blazed down and the words from the mosque not far away wafted through the air with music to fill the senses. It was for me a very powerful moment that brought together humans from birth to death once again living in this world and most just trying to do the best they can. Oh Christ, wilt though have saved me then?
Our last stop was the important monumental visage of the archaeological area that was the second century hippodrome, one of the largest in the Roman world. They had chariot races just like our modern day drag races. Everyone awaited the accidents.
We all headed out to our car and all of a sudden at least 20 buses pulled up and hundreds of men from the military and police jumped out and began to run toward us. What a joy it was to know that their mission was to turn the hippodrome into a concert arena for 12,000 people that night. The best we could deduce is that there is a person to compare with Celine Dion named Julia who was going to be performing that night.
Here we were all breathing the same air and all hoping for a wonderful evening.
We are not all that different. I enjoyed my day. Thanks for sharing it with me. One day please join me as I come back. Oh yes!!! I will return.
Sheryl Wood
First Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia